Tag Archives: Featured

Summary: Italy’s referendum defeat is not simply a victory for populist-nationalist forces. Freedom Party victory in Austria is a victory for said forces. Even if Hofer wins, there are sufficient checks that make it difficult to hold EU or EMU referendum. The ADP private sector employment estimate will steal some thunder from the official estimate on Friday. Although the two times do not line up tightly in the...

The Swiss consumption indicator by UBS shows improvements. The indicator is still distant from the highs in 2012. At the time stronger growth in Emerging Markets and the weaker franc helped the Swiss economy. In October, the UBS consumption indicator rose from 1.47 to 1.49 points. Positive developments in the automobile market and robust domestic tourism continue to support private consumption. However, the slump...

Summary: The dot plots are not FOMC commitments or an aggregate view of the FOMC. They are a collection of individual economic forecasts based on the most likely scenario and their view of appropriate policy. The SEP is useful for understanding how Fed officials view the long-term economic parameters, which appears to explain the downward shift in the long-term equilibrium rate for Fed funds. Former Fed chief...

Summary: The dot plots are not FOMC commitments or an aggregate view of the FOMC. They are a collection of individual economic forecasts based on the most likely scenario and their view of appropriate policy. The SEP is useful for understanding how Fed officials view the long-term economic parameters, which appears to explain the downward shift in the long-term equilibrium rate for Fed funds. Former Fed chief...

  A Brutal Communist Dictator Shuffles Off This Mortal Coil The death of the brutal Cuban Communist dictator Fidel Castro closes the door, in some respect, on another disastrous page in US foreign policy history.  For all the denunciations and criticism of Castro from conservative elements and exiled Cubans, his despotic rule was the outcome of decades of American imperialism which began with President William...

Switzerland retains its number one spot in IMD‘s most recent 2016 World Talent Report. Unlike the other 60 nations in the study, which have seen their performance gyrate, a plot of Switzerland’s rank over the last ten years is a perfectly straight line. First ten years in a row. The study looks at three things: investment in people, ability to attract skilled foreigners, and readiness, a measure of the availability of...

Switzerland retains its number one spot in IMD‘s most recent 2016 World Talent Report. Unlike the other 60 nations in the study, which have seen their performance gyrate, a plot of Switzerland’s rank over the last ten years is a perfectly straight line. First ten years in a row. The study looks at three things: investment in people, ability to attract skilled foreigners, and readiness, a measure of the availability of...

Summary: US Q3 was revised higher mostly due to consumption. Business investment was a drag. Profits rose to snap a five-quarter slide. The US economy now is estimated to have expanded by 3.2% in Q3, up from the initial estimate of 2.9%, and is the fasted in since Q3 2014.  The average quarterly growth rate this year is 1.8% compared with 1.9% last year.  The Federal Reserve estimates trend growth or the...

Summary: US Q3 was revised higher mostly due to consumption. Business investment was a drag. Profits rose to snap a five-quarter slide. The US economy now is estimated to have expanded by 3.2% in Q3, up from the initial estimate of 2.9%, and is the fasted in since Q3 2014.  The average quarterly growth rate this year is 1.8% compared with 1.9% last year.  The Federal Reserve estimates trend growth or the...

Neuchâtel, 29.11.2016 (FSO) – In the 3rd quarter 2016, total employment (number of jobs) rose by 0.3% in comparison with the same quarter a year earlier (-0.1% compared with the previous quarter). In full-time equivalents, employment in the same period remained unchanged. The Swiss economy counted 4,000 more vacancies than in the corresponding quarter of the previous year (+8.1%). The other indicators also showed...